Sex Nude
Sex shop too racy for Robinson officials? Stephanie Waite, Times Business Editor 11/21/2005
This watermelon-scented massage oil, this "How To Strip" video, this leather men's thong ("One Size Fits Most"), this red suede whip, this quite realistic dildo, which, among its many fine qualities, vibrates - none of this stuff belongs in Robinson, the type of locality where people take the kids to Red Lobster on a Friday night and sit annoyed in traffic on Saturday afternoon.
Or so say the people who run Robinson Township. They shut down Vanessa Fuchs' store, Sassy Sensations, just eight days after it opened on Sept. 9, saying it was a sexually oriented business not permitted under the township zoning ordinance.
Fuchs sued the township in district court and won, but still doesn't have an occupancy permit. That will be decided at a Nov. 30 zoning board hearing.
Any business with such a wide and colorful stock of dildos certainly fits the "sexually oriented" description. But whether Sassy Sensations is exactly the type of business the town fathers hope to keep at a distance is debatable.
Just spend some time in Fuchs' original store, in the South Hills borough of Castle Shannon, and you'll quickly learn one thing about the sex-toy business: Honey, it's positively suburban.
If you'd dropped into Sassy Sensations one recent Thursday afternoon, you'd have encountered Fuchs, 43, giving two middle-aged female customers directions: first, to her display of ankle bracelets ("Here, sweetheart"), and then, to their next den of iniquity, Sam's Club ("Have a safe trip over there").
Soon afterward, Beth Capuano drove up in her white minivan with a Yankee Candle deodorizer hanging from the rear-view mirror and a child strapped into a car seat.
She dashed in to pick up a boxful of oils and various buzzing objects, among them "Chubby," a vibrator that is "very popular because he's waterproof," and "Cleopatra's Secret" - "an arousal cream for the ladies ... we sell a ton of that," Fuchs said.
Capuano is one of nine salespeople Fuchs employs to host in-home Sassy Sensations parties. Sex-toy parties, often compared to Tupperware parties, are a popular way for women to get together with friends in hubby's absence.
National companies such as Sweet Sinsations and Edible Ecstasy are introducing middle-class women to the joys of sex toys. One Louisiana-based company, Slumber Parties, has about 6,000 distributors nationwide.
Fuchs' adventures in the sex-toy trade began when she attended a party. "I was just divorced, bought a toy, hit the G spot, and the rest is history," as she told it. Fuchs, a Canonsburg native who lives in Peters Township, does also have a degree in marketing from Robert Morris University.
Her difficulties in Robinson, she said, may stem from an inaccurate conception of a sex-toy shop. Some envision a grimy place, with hard-core videos on the shelves and men in booths ogling live nude girls.
In fact, her lawyer's argument is that Robinson's ordinance is intended to keep out hard-core businesses but not shops like Fuchs'. The ordinance refers to businesses such as "adult arcades" and "sexual encounter centers."
Shops like Sassy Sensations - where gals and guys who prefer private sex in bed over public sex in booths can buy "enhancers" - are common in cities like New York and Las Vegas, but still new to the Pittsburgh area.
Customers at such shops have plenty of disposable income. For instance, the "Vibro-Realistic" - indeed, a vibrating, realistic model of male genitalia - will run you $65.
Some people still aren't familiar with, or don't quite get, the sex-toy concept. When Fuchs told her dad she was getting into the business, he said, "It's not that I don't think you're going to make a pot of money. But aren't these guys doing their jobs?"
Robinson Township building inspector Rick Urbano, who ordered Fuchs to close the store, declined to comment on the issue because it is in litigation.
Sassy Sensations' Castle Shannon store is in a strip mall on a busy commercial section of Route 88. Neighbors include The Gold Gallery jewelry shop and Denim Heaven, which sells premium jeans for $79 to $400 a pair.
Denim Heaven's owners had no qualms about opening a high-end store in the same plaza as a sex-toy store. In fact, manager Heather Fontana said Fuchs' store helps attract customers.
Two stylish women, hair blown perfectly straight, wandered into Sassy Sensations after a visit to Denim Heaven. They lingered in the front of the store, which features tamer items such as lubricants and bachelorette party items, including the penis-shaped cake pans.
"I underestimated what people would spend (on bondage) in Pittsburgh," Fuchs said. "I can't be into everything; I would never have time to sleep."
Fuchs refers to the moment when people enter the back room as "a teachable moment." As the women stared in amazement, it seemed they didn't expect to learn quite so much during an afternoon shopping trip.
The room is filled with dildos and vibrators of all sizes, shapes and colors, as well as more esoteric sexual equipment such as blow-up dolls, vibrating clamps for sensitive body parts ("For him, her or both of you!") and a swing. The outside of the box sported helpful illustrations for swing newbies.
Fuchs wore a maroon skirt suit, businesslike but still stylish, with a white blouse underneath, accessorized with bumblebee-themed jewelry. She always dresses conservatively, she said, to put people at ease.
She grabbed a "Jack Rabbit" vibrator and told the women, "This was made famous by 'Sex in the City' - the episode where Charlotte didn't want to leave the house because of the vibrator."
Fuchs ("It's spelled F-U-C-H-S," she said. "Rhymes with 'books,' but with an F at the beginning. I was born for this business!") said she restricts entry to the back room to those 18 and older, though she doesn't legally have to do so.
Twenty-year-old Ashley Zalewski, who's studying education at Pitt and considering becoming a Sassy Sensations salesperson, brought her sister Brittany, 22, to the store for the first time.
"I don't personally think it's raunchy," Brittany said. In fact, it reminded her of a store that's been a fixture at many a local mall for years.
Men are welcome, but rare, at Sassy Sensations. Fuchs, who said she prides herself on confidentiality, didn't know quite what to do when a guy she sees regularly at church showed up one day.
Into the store walked Clare Cottrill, 40, looking like the epitome of quiet suburban living in her fleece jacket with autumn leaves appliques and comfortable shoes.
She and her husband ran out of massage oil, she explained. He actually drives past the store every day, but didn't want to go in, so she did the deed when she found herself in the area. She got one bottle of sweet almond oil, and one of cappuccino truffle.
Cappuccino truffle massage oil ... it's not just for wild bohemians anymore. You walk into the store, you buy something, it makes you feel better. Just like going to the mall.
This is cache, read story here
This watermelon-scented massage oil, this "How To Strip" video, this leather men's thong ("One Size Fits Most"), this red suede whip, this quite realistic dildo, which, among its many fine qualities, vibrates - none of this stuff belongs in Robinson, the type of locality where people take the kids to Red Lobster on a Friday night and sit annoyed in traffic on Saturday afternoon.
Or so say the people who run Robinson Township. They shut down Vanessa Fuchs' store, Sassy Sensations, just eight days after it opened on Sept. 9, saying it was a sexually oriented business not permitted under the township zoning ordinance.
Fuchs sued the township in district court and won, but still doesn't have an occupancy permit. That will be decided at a Nov. 30 zoning board hearing.
Any business with such a wide and colorful stock of dildos certainly fits the "sexually oriented" description. But whether Sassy Sensations is exactly the type of business the town fathers hope to keep at a distance is debatable.
Just spend some time in Fuchs' original store, in the South Hills borough of Castle Shannon, and you'll quickly learn one thing about the sex-toy business: Honey, it's positively suburban.
If you'd dropped into Sassy Sensations one recent Thursday afternoon, you'd have encountered Fuchs, 43, giving two middle-aged female customers directions: first, to her display of ankle bracelets ("Here, sweetheart"), and then, to their next den of iniquity, Sam's Club ("Have a safe trip over there").
Soon afterward, Beth Capuano drove up in her white minivan with a Yankee Candle deodorizer hanging from the rear-view mirror and a child strapped into a car seat.
She dashed in to pick up a boxful of oils and various buzzing objects, among them "Chubby," a vibrator that is "very popular because he's waterproof," and "Cleopatra's Secret" - "an arousal cream for the ladies ... we sell a ton of that," Fuchs said.
Capuano is one of nine salespeople Fuchs employs to host in-home Sassy Sensations parties. Sex-toy parties, often compared to Tupperware parties, are a popular way for women to get together with friends in hubby's absence.
National companies such as Sweet Sinsations and Edible Ecstasy are introducing middle-class women to the joys of sex toys. One Louisiana-based company, Slumber Parties, has about 6,000 distributors nationwide.
Fuchs' adventures in the sex-toy trade began when she attended a party. "I was just divorced, bought a toy, hit the G spot, and the rest is history," as she told it. Fuchs, a Canonsburg native who lives in Peters Township, does also have a degree in marketing from Robert Morris University.
Her difficulties in Robinson, she said, may stem from an inaccurate conception of a sex-toy shop. Some envision a grimy place, with hard-core videos on the shelves and men in booths ogling live nude girls.
In fact, her lawyer's argument is that Robinson's ordinance is intended to keep out hard-core businesses but not shops like Fuchs'. The ordinance refers to businesses such as "adult arcades" and "sexual encounter centers."
Shops like Sassy Sensations - where gals and guys who prefer private sex in bed over public sex in booths can buy "enhancers" - are common in cities like New York and Las Vegas, but still new to the Pittsburgh area.
Customers at such shops have plenty of disposable income. For instance, the "Vibro-Realistic" - indeed, a vibrating, realistic model of male genitalia - will run you $65.
Some people still aren't familiar with, or don't quite get, the sex-toy concept. When Fuchs told her dad she was getting into the business, he said, "It's not that I don't think you're going to make a pot of money. But aren't these guys doing their jobs?"
Robinson Township building inspector Rick Urbano, who ordered Fuchs to close the store, declined to comment on the issue because it is in litigation.
Sassy Sensations' Castle Shannon store is in a strip mall on a busy commercial section of Route 88. Neighbors include The Gold Gallery jewelry shop and Denim Heaven, which sells premium jeans for $79 to $400 a pair.
Denim Heaven's owners had no qualms about opening a high-end store in the same plaza as a sex-toy store. In fact, manager Heather Fontana said Fuchs' store helps attract customers.
Two stylish women, hair blown perfectly straight, wandered into Sassy Sensations after a visit to Denim Heaven. They lingered in the front of the store, which features tamer items such as lubricants and bachelorette party items, including the penis-shaped cake pans.
"I underestimated what people would spend (on bondage) in Pittsburgh," Fuchs said. "I can't be into everything; I would never have time to sleep."
Fuchs refers to the moment when people enter the back room as "a teachable moment." As the women stared in amazement, it seemed they didn't expect to learn quite so much during an afternoon shopping trip.
The room is filled with dildos and vibrators of all sizes, shapes and colors, as well as more esoteric sexual equipment such as blow-up dolls, vibrating clamps for sensitive body parts ("For him, her or both of you!") and a swing. The outside of the box sported helpful illustrations for swing newbies.
Fuchs wore a maroon skirt suit, businesslike but still stylish, with a white blouse underneath, accessorized with bumblebee-themed jewelry. She always dresses conservatively, she said, to put people at ease.
She grabbed a "Jack Rabbit" vibrator and told the women, "This was made famous by 'Sex in the City' - the episode where Charlotte didn't want to leave the house because of the vibrator."
Fuchs ("It's spelled F-U-C-H-S," she said. "Rhymes with 'books,' but with an F at the beginning. I was born for this business!") said she restricts entry to the back room to those 18 and older, though she doesn't legally have to do so.
Twenty-year-old Ashley Zalewski, who's studying education at Pitt and considering becoming a Sassy Sensations salesperson, brought her sister Brittany, 22, to the store for the first time.
"I don't personally think it's raunchy," Brittany said. In fact, it reminded her of a store that's been a fixture at many a local mall for years.
Men are welcome, but rare, at Sassy Sensations. Fuchs, who said she prides herself on confidentiality, didn't know quite what to do when a guy she sees regularly at church showed up one day.
Into the store walked Clare Cottrill, 40, looking like the epitome of quiet suburban living in her fleece jacket with autumn leaves appliques and comfortable shoes.
She and her husband ran out of massage oil, she explained. He actually drives past the store every day, but didn't want to go in, so she did the deed when she found herself in the area. She got one bottle of sweet almond oil, and one of cappuccino truffle.
Cappuccino truffle massage oil ... it's not just for wild bohemians anymore. You walk into the store, you buy something, it makes you feel better. Just like going to the mall.
This is cache, read story here
